Torque specs for lawn mower blade constitute a rotating blade’s power while cutting through grass. If you need help determining the torque specs for your particular mower, go through its user manual or the manufacturing company’s website to find it.
When replacing lawn mower blades, it is important to adjust the new blade according to the right torque specs.
This complete guide will discuss torque specs in great detail and how to adjust the blade of a mower according to the right specs.
Contents
What Are the Torque Specs for Lawn Mower Blade?
The torque specs for lawn mower blade refers to the power measurement unit that goes into rotating the mower blade while cutting grass blades. It is an important aspect of regular mower maintenance because the greater the torque, the more efficient the lawn mower’s performance.
– Mower Torque Definition
Torque is the unit of measurement to see how much power is going into rotating the blades of a lawn mower. The primary purpose of a lawn is to cut the grass short with the help of a rotary blade.
The sharpness of the blade is one of many things that determine how well the mower slices through grass blades. The speed at which these blades rotate also matters greatly, and this speed is measured in terms of torque.
With push-type or walk-behind lawnmowers, you have to manually put force into pushing them forward. The more force you exert, the more the blade will rotate and the greater the torque produced. With gas or battery-powered mowers, torque depends solely on the engine’s horsepower.
If the engine is in good working condition and can produce maximum power, this will improve the blade specs of the lawn mower.
One of the reasons why mower blades sometimes fail to cut grass efficiently is their torque has been compromised. If the fault lies in the engine, it will have to be fixed. In many cases, however, the problem lies in how the engine power is transferred to the cutting blade. You will be glad to learn a few tricks we know help to improve the torque specs, giving your mower an extra edge.
– Torque Needs of Various Mowers
All lawn mower blades are designed and manufactured by the company according to specific torque requirements. However, the right torque specs of a blade are determined by the needs of your lawn.
The two most important factors in this regard are the size of the lawn and the thickness of the grass species growing there. Using a mower with lower specs for heavier tasks will decrease the mower’s lifespan way earlier.
- If the lawn is small and flat, then a lawn mower with torque specs around 35 to 40 foot-pounds is enough to mow it regularly.
- A medium to heavy-duty mower would work better if the lawn is larger or the grass growing in it is thick and tall. Similarly, if the yard is steep, mowing on it will require more power, and a heavy-duty torque mower would do better than a medium-duty one.
- Torque specs also vary from mower type to type; you can get a general idea just by looking at one. For example, most push-type mowers have 35 to 50 foot-pound torque specs.
- Of course, the torque specs for riding type of lawn mowers will be greater than that of push type mowers, around 70 to 90 foot-pounds worth of torque.
– Factors That Determine Torque
The ideal torque provided by a lawnmower blade depends mostly on the design feature of the lawnmower. The primary design feature is the configuration of the engine because it is the engine that is essentially transporting power to the blade’s rotation and torque. The blade’s torque specs will be higher if the engine is big and strong.
The actual engine size, measured in cubic centimeters, matters a lot. Common sense dictates that gigantic riding-type lawnmowers have more torque than smaller automatic types. Sometimes, the engine of some mowers is configured in such a way that a relatively smaller engine might lead to the production of greater torque.
– Improving Mower Blade Torque by Yourself
There comes a time when all lawn mower users have to adjust their blades to meet the ideal torque specs. The blade might have gotten loose naturally after repeated use and needs to be tightened. You may have disassembled it for sharpening and want to reinstall it, but you need to figure out how tight the nuts and bolts should be.
In most cases, this problem happens when users replace lawn mower blades that are old and worn with new ones.
- Take out the user manual with the mower and read your model’s torque specifications.
- The key element here is the bolt size used to attach the blade to the mower. If you keep the old bolts, you can ask the mechanic or the hardware store owner to give you a new replacement.
- If you have lost them and need clarification on their size, look them up in the manual or online. Almost all companies specify the torque requirements and the bolt size for their models clearly on their websites.
- Once you know the right-sized bolts to use and have purchased them, use a torque wrench to tighten them. Using any other wrench, in this case, is a mistake because that will not work.
- The next most important thing is deciding upon the right torque wrench. Once you have decided, order this wrench online or purchase it yourself.
- Take a look at the wrench and notice the gauge you can set according to the torque specs of your mower.
- It would help if you had a moderate-sized piece of wood to place between the blade to keep it from spinning. This is much safer and more convenient than using your hand to keep the blade in place.
- With the right-sized bolt, the right torque wrench, and the right torque specs, you will tighten the bolts exactly how they need to be done.
– When Torque Is Too Tight
Following the right torque specifications for any lawn mower is of utmost importance. It doesn’t matter which company has manufactured your lawn mower; you must go through its instructions manual to see what specs they have provided for your lawn mower. Follow these specifications to avoid problems like over-tightening the lawn mower blade after taking it out for sharpening.
If you end up tightening the blade back with too much pressure on the bolts, this will produce an inordinately large amount of torque once the blade rotates. This is not good because your mower is at risk of severe damage. The engine will have to double its effort to rotate the overtightened blade like before. Consequently, you will end up shortening the life of your lawn mower engine.
The tiny parts of machinery that transport energy from the engine to the blade are quite sensitive and do not take kindly to such misuse. You will find yourself having to change engine parts much more frequently.
The worst thing is that the mower’s quality of work will also become lower. The blade tends to resist rotating when the torque is too tight. It no longer cuts grass easily, and you will remain dissatisfied with how your lawn looks. When you realize this problem, turn off the mower and its spark plug and use a wrench to loosen the bolts holding the blade.
– When Torque Is Not Tight Enough
Just because bolting a blade is detrimental to the lawn mower’s health doesn’t mean you should leave it bolted too lightly. It is a common misconception to assume that a loose blade will rotate faster. Such a blade is shaky, unstable, and unable to cut grass properly.
Any seasoned lawn owner can diagnose a loose blade by looking at how it cuts grass. The cut grass blades’ height will be uneven and not level with each other. If the blade is too loose, it might start bumping into the soil while rotating. This is even more terrible because it is only a matter of time before the blade either gets bent or broken.
Even if the blade gets slightly bent on one side, it becomes more or less useless and must be replaced. Secondly, all your effort into maintaining the perfect turf might go to waste as grass and soil are pulled up aggressively by a blade with improper torque specs. This is not to mention that this wobbly and loop-sided blade can also hit random objects and cause further damage.
To fix this problem:
- Make sure that the engine has been turned off and cooled down first.
- See that the spark plug is disengaged and the oil tank sealed before tipping the mower on its side to have clearer access to the cutting blade.
- Use an appropriate wrench to tighten its bolts until the blade becomes stable and stops wobbling up and down.
Conclusion
To avoid incurring extra costs, make sure to consult a professional if you are not sure about the specifics of your lawn mower. For our final thoughts, here is a summary of torque specs for mower blades.
- Technically, torque is the power a mower blade needs as it rotates while cutting grass and is measured in foot pounds.
- A lawn mower with higher torque will naturally be more efficient and faster at cutting grass than a lower torque.
- Large riding-style mowers that are heavy-duty with a big engine are bound to provide more torque to their blades for rotation.
- It is a common mistake to mismatch the blade’s torque with the engine’s horsepower when replacing an old blade with a new one.
- Using the wrong torque specs for a mower’s cutting blade will decrease the efficiency of the mower and its life expectancy.
So far, you have read all the information that there is to know about torque specs for lawn mower blades. This guide will help you greatly if you are serious about keeping your mower in perfect working condition for several years.
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